Preparation

Trim and dice the fruit. Mix them with the nuts and pour the
liquor over all. Marinate several days, covered, in a non porous
container, stirring occasionally. (I use the three gallon tubs that
are used to package fondant icing and frozen fruit. Do not use
metal, it will corrode and blacken.)

Make the batter: Cream the butter and sugar. It will be too wet
to get light and fluffy until you begin to add the eggs. You will
have to add the cake flour sooner than you would with a plain pound
cake. Finish with about a pound of the bread flour.

Dredge the fruit and nuts with the remaining bread flour and
fold the two mixtures together.

Bake in loaves or rounds in paper lined molds in a slow oven.
(325 F) You may want to insulate the bottom of the pan by placing
it on corrugated cardboard or an inverted sheet pan. The cakes
usually take close to two hours. Do not rely on visual clues for
doneness: use a tester or toothpick. Because they bake so long, any
uneven heating of your oven is exaggerated, so you should rotate
the pans after an hour or so.

Cover the cakes with the sheet pan as they cool to trap the
fragrant moisture, which will be reabsorbed. Give them another
sprinkle of liquor before setting them aside to age still in their
molds, covered, in a cool dark place. Leave them for at least two
weeks.

One day before glazing sprinkle them again. Unmold before
giving a first thin coat of apricot glaze. Decorate the tops with
additional fruit and nuts, if you like, and give them a heavier
glaze. Wrap the cakes in plastic or cellophane and store them for
as long as you like (I have done it for two years) before
serving.

Hint: You can bake the cakes in gift tins. You
can shape them into rings by placing a disposable paper hot cup
filled with beans(for weight) in the paper lined tin before the
batter goes in. However, you must remove the cake and line the tin
with plastic wrap before the first dousing.

The fruits I have indicated are not mandatory. Include others
and omit what you don't like.The proportion of nuts to fruits and
batter to fruits and nuts should stay the same, though. For
instance, I don't always include the glace cherries and I like to
add dried pears. You might want to add mixed candied fruit or green
and red cherries, both for the sake of tradition, and drop out the
apricots.

If you are making this at home and want manageable units to work
with, multiply the numbers by two and change the units to ounces. 1
lb of butter, 6 cups of eggs, 1Tbsp salt, 6 cups cake flour, 4 cups
all purpose flour. You will have six cakes, a little under 1-1/2
lbs each before dousing and decorating.

NOTES: Amy is a prize winning baker and taught
baking at my college. I can personally vouch for these being the
best fruitcakes I have ever eaten.